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DISCLAIMER: This article is based on a complaint. The defendant has not responded to the complaint to present its side of the case. The claims mentioned are accusations and should be considered as such until and unless proven otherwise.
A class-action complaint has been filed accusing a collection agency of violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by sending two letters, one of which said the debt would not be reported to the credit reporting agencies and another saying that if the account is paid in full, the agency would request the credit reporting agencies delete the tradeline after the final payment has been posted.
A copy of the complaint, filed in the District Court for the Eastern District of California, can be accessed using case number 22-cv-01076.
The plaintiff received two collection letters from the defendant — one in March of this year and the other in July. The first letter included a statement that the defendant “will not report [the debt] to any credit reporting agency.” The second letter included a statement that the defendant “will request the credit bureaus delete the Jefferson Capital, LLC tradeline approximately 30 days after the final payment has been posted that resolves the account as paid in full.”
Making matters more complicated is that these two collection letters were sent three years after the defendant sent the plaintiff a letter responding to a dispute filed by the plaintiff indicating it was ceasing collection activity on the account and requesting that the credit reporting agencies delete the account from the plaintiff’s credit report.
The complaint accuses the defendant of violating Sections 1692dm 1692e(2)(A), 1692e(10), and 1692f of the FDCPA. It seeks to include anyone else living in California who received letters attempting to collect on a debt after previously receiving a letter indicating that collection activity on the account in question was being ceased.
